


The Pearl Songbird

by LilianaSnow



Category: Fall Out Boy
Genre: Adorable, Alternate Universe - Boarding School, Alternate Universe - Creatures & Monsters, Angel Wings, Childbirth, Fear of Flying, Flying, Friendship, Help, Hurt/Comfort, Kindness, Magic, Magic School, Monsters, Mpreg, Original Character(s), Spells & Enchantments, Unethical Experimentation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-16
Updated: 2019-04-30
Packaged: 2019-08-04 11:34:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,722
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16345928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LilianaSnow/pseuds/LilianaSnow
Summary: Imagine being at this concert!





	1. Fly

After their trip to the Facility of Valhalla, the entire band was forced to attend classes at the Academy. Andy had his courses entirely separate from the others, and Joe had a separate dorm. The headmaster of the school, Viviana, had suggested that Andy sleep in the lake like other mermaids, and encouraged Patrick to sleep in the Aviary, but they had been allowed to deny it. The only person who was forced to go to a private dorm was Joe, because he was a gorgon.

However, flight classes were shared by all flight species, which meant that Pete, Patrick, and Joe had the classes together. Since the courses were held by the lake on Saturdays, Andy was allowed to watch. This particular day was a very sunny flight day. The skies were naturally clear, with no manipulation from the advanced or staff Zephyrs. Nobody knew what Viviana's Anomaly was, but she was able to teach all of them their flight techniques and she happily did so. Her smile was almost as warm as the sun. The way she went about this made the forced Anomaly inside of Pete cringe- demons didn't like open displays of emotion. Pete, however, found it charming when he wasn't doing demon things.

As far as Pete- and by extension the rest of the band- was concerned, Patrick was an angel, Joe was a gorgon, and Andy was a mermaid, but they were still them. End of story. According to classification, Pete was a demon, who had extremely good persuasion skills, could turn to smoke, and fly. Joe was a gorgon, who were good with bows, had sharper senses, could fly and could turn you to stone. Andy was a mermaid, whose legs turned to a tail and fins when he got wet, and he had an extent of power over the water. His voice was also even more calming than before. Patrick was a variety of Valkyrie called an Angel, which could carry children, fly, were great with bows, and were quite good at interpretation and communication. Not that Patrick needed ay help with a bow or with communication.

Now, Patrick was grateful for the cool breeze cast by fluttered wings.

"Okay guys, today we'll be going over the lake." Viv's voice was cheery as always, and Pete felt his Anomaly shudder at the easygoing manner in which she stepped forward.

On days like today, on Saturdays, they were all happy to be on that lake. The clear sky, warm weather, and variety of the only Saturday class meant it was viewed as a leisure activity by the students. Viv didn't even grade it like she did most other classes. She graded it, not on style, but on if the people were able to fly and safely land.

 "You can do it, Patrick!" Andy hollered from the banks, aware that Patrick was self conscious about his Anomaly. (He'd offer Joe reassurance, too, but nobody other than Viv had the courage to even think about Joe's flight skills, let alone talk to him about them.) He was surrounded by naiads and selkies and other mermaids who were obviously swooning. He pretended not to notice.

Viv stood back and mimicked throwing a ball over the water. This was the signal for he flight team- Flight Team One- to take a go. This group included Pete, a Valkyrie named Rossalie, a pair of gorgon twins nobody could tell apart named Rose and Jade, and another demon named Artemis. The group lined up, facing the lake.

They ran together and didn't stop at the edge of the waves. Instead they jumped into the air. The gorgons and Valkyrie spread their wings, flapped once, and caught a drift to carry them up. Pete and Artemis turned slightly transparent, sort of turning to smoke. They drifted, too, going in between the others and just a little higher. They flew to the front of the pack, leading them halfway over the lake before dipping down to skim the water.

The cold mist that broke across Pete's face was all he needed to dip below the water and erupt from the lake, leaving a spray of water droplets in his wake and arching in his flight path. He turned over and evened out, letting out a whoop of excitement.

As he flew, side by side with Artemis, he felt himself slipping back to a more human, more solid form. At the end of their path, he hit the water running, easily making his way back up by his bandmates. He bent with his hands on his knees, out of breath and grinning up at Patrick.

"You looked good out there, Pete," Patrick murmured, holding his stomach. This was a nervous twitch he'd recently picked up. He'd come to the Academy pregnant, although not to his knowledge until a month after, when he'd been sick for a week. He hadn't crashed once during flight lessons but he was getting big, and he knew baby Virginia wasn't enough of a concern to give him the lessons off yet.

"Relax. It's easy. I've seen you fly. You're a natural." Pete was focusing his mind back into human- and  _Pete_ \- ways of thinking.

Joe smiled at the two of them. "You're both better than me." He wasn't lying.

Joe had aced learning to control his snakes in one week of instruction. Turning people to stone was controlled a week after that. He hadn't taken very long to adjust to sharper senses of sight as smell. He had become quite adequate with with a bow and arrow about two days after receiving his first. But even now, Joe couldn't fly very well at all.

The first Saturday he'd been in the classes, he had crashed and would have drowned if Andy and an anonymous naiad hadn't brought him to the shore. His third flight lesson, he sprained a snake when he panicked and took off before Pete had an opportunity to get out of the way. His eight flight ended with a trip to the spellweaver's, which had him in tears when he found out he'd broken a wing. At least the sorceress working that day had been able to fix it. Even Pete had mastered the basics by tenth lesson, when Joe had bowled over an entire row of statues made by the gargoyles.

Even now, Joe was likely to crash or be too scared to even lift off.

It was Patrick's turn in Flight Group Sixteen. There were eighteen groups in this class.

On Patrick's left, there was a Zephyr named Orion, a gorgon called Alex,  and a demon called Hestia. On his right, a fairy named Sparks, another Angel named Nina, and (ironically) a demon called Faith.

This was the only group headed by an Anomaly with material wings. At Viv's signal, he led them to the water and took off just before they reached the wetness. He evened out and drifted up, watching the dryads and Sleipnir in the forest on the other side of the lake harvesting the fresh fruit. The mermaids who Andy hadn't seduced were rippling the water and chasing selkies on the banks to his left. To the right, there were clear skies and the spellweaver's hut, where a group of sorcerers and healers were making potions.

Orion's Anomaly made him nearly invisible besides his clothes while flying. He was pale skinned and cold to the touch. Fairies like Sparks had spectral wings and special/unique styles. In her case, it meant electricity coursing through her and making her hair look somewhere in between wild and controlled.

Patrick skirted around in a wide circle, then dropped to cup the water in his hands. The other members of the group followed suite, each moving out to cause formations on the water resembling flower wisps. Eventually Patrick pulled up, leaving a wall of water trailing off each of his fingertips. All of his flight group had this- a magical coating on their hands to help bend the water to their will.

After Patrick was a yard in the air, Orion and Sparks started to rise as well. After the three of them each gained another yard, Alex and Nina lifted. Then, with Patrick nine feet and the air, Orion and Sparks six, and Alex and Nina three, the pattern was continued by Faith and Hestia.

The seven rose up another three feet, then straightened up to make it seem as if they were standing on it. As they threw their arms above their heads to cause the waves to spiral around them in the air, their legs bent so they were in a 'Superman' pose. The water cascaded around them, and the Fae lights that always followed Sparks shone through, making the pose all the more stunning.

They glided together up to the same height, the dipped to skim the rest of the lake back to the banks. As the team disbanded, Patrick practically sauntered back to Pete and Joe, not even short of breath. Pete, Joe, and Andy were right- Patrick was a natural. And he really enjoyed it, too.

"You looked _fantastic_ up there, Patrick," Pete commented, wide-eyed.

"Thanks..." Patrick tucked his shirt in absently.

"Once Virginia's born, you should start a flight club," Joe suggested, fidgeting slightly with his goggles. He didn't like them, but they were a source of comfort in pressure situations. They were magically made specifically to prevent him from turning anyone into stone.

"No, that'd cut time from studying and hanging out with you guys." Patrick sounded wishful, like it sounded fun to him.

"You worry too much about grades here, Lunchbox. All you need to do well in are selfcare, flight, and archery." Pete was highly at ease.

"I still don't want to fail anything, and I also need to be able to care for a Fangling child as well so I need to do well in young Anomaly care too."

After a while, Flight Team Eighteen was called. Joe's turn. It was a known fact that Joe was the reason this group was always last.

Andy, however, was unfazed. He simply watched his friend take a deep breath and start running. His wings managed to carry him up to an okay height, lagging behind and to the left of the assortment of demons and Valkyrie on his team. They simply soared on the natural zephyrs before flipping and turning over.

Joe managed to keep close for most of the flight, but then he got too excited. His wings started beating out of sync and he started to fall. A demon named Cassidy gripped his arm, guiding him back up and higher than before. He noticed that everyone except for Lilac- the demon in the lead of his team-was pairing up for the same path. When they reached a point somewhere between the lake and Patrick's final height, they all linked hands.After his grip was secure and firm on Cassidy's wrist, the entire group dived.

They gracefully broke the crest of a wave about Pete's height, glided through it, and drifted out. Their 'big finish' was the group lifting up and landing perched perfectly balanced on the beach, along a row of tide pools.

After that Saturday, flight lessons were a lot easier on Joe.


	2. Infinite

The pain and pressure on Patrick felt like he was being crushed inside an Iron Maiden. The burning fever consumed him entirely. Every muscle in his body ached and strained.

Andy gently swirled the water of the custom built pool around him, offering what little solace he could. Pete was standing near, ready to take possession of his friend if it got to be too much for him. Joe was checking and rechecking to ensure he had what they'd need. Viv was monitoring in case he needed her help.

"I'm sorry Elisa couldn't be here, Patrick." Viv's voice was clear and soft, not a whisper or a murmur, but not loud enough to say 'spoken.' "She had that meeting with Declan's teachers, she couldn't cancel."

"It's okay, V-Viv- agh..." He threw his head back an tried to move, to shift into a comfortable position and ease the pain.

Andy gently guided him back into the water, rubbing the bump slowly. Patrick gritted his teeth and took a deep breath, settling in. He felt his face reddening.  _This is demeaning,_ he thought.

"You're doing great, sweetheart," Viv whispered, sitting down and brushing his hair back. She was his teacher, his friend, and his savior. She was the principal of the school and leader of an elite fighting group that rescued Anomalies and brought them here. But she was also like a second mother to all of the students and staff. She knew when to play each of her roles, and how to do it perfectly. She could have helped with the births of half of the youngest students, and nobody would think twice about her getting involved with mentoring the older students' relationships.

Patrick opened his eyes, not noticing he'd closed them, and looked at her. He didn't feel like he deserved to be an object of this motherly affection. He didn't feel like this was considered 'great.' It felt slow, agonizing, and hard. She held his hand and started running her thumb in circles on the back of it.

"I'm proud of you, Patrick. Are you proud of you?" There it was. The signature question she always asked people who were making progress. The one she asked to remind them that if she was happy, they still had the right not to be satisfied. And to judge if they were being too hard on themselves.

"No. It hurts. Is this what others feel?"

"Every time, if I'm to believe my friends' experience. Of all the people I've served as mother to, none of them were my own." Viv was a little wistful, but she brushed it off like she always did. "I know that it hurts. It's hell. But it's worth it."

"I had... I had no idea. I need to rethink Mother's Day."

"I think you need to be a bit more confident in yourself."

When Patrick's next contraction hit, Viv let him squeeze her hand as he pushed. She didn't say anything, but Andy saw her wince slightly. Her eyes flashed yellow, like Pete's or Hestia's when they were angry or turning. Joe thought he saw a flash of spectral grey wings, but he was never sure. Patrick's pain seemed to ease, however, and the contraction was over before he knew it. He grinned weakly up at them.

Viv, however, seemed to weaken. She let go of his hand and covered her mouth, stepping away. Her voice rang clear when she asked them to excuse her. She didn't return for a while, and when she did, she was wearing a muzzle. An honest to god muzzle. Gargoyles wore them as fashion statements, and vampires wore them to protest menu changes that had more blood substitutes. Werewolves and skinwalkers wore them to add an edge to the videos they filmed of each other. Viv seemed to worry that it might fall off.

Patrick was concerned, but didn't question it as she aided him in the rest of the birth. After Virginia was finally born, it was brought to light that she was born presenting as an Anomaly, an Angel or Valkyrie like her father.

After a long week of recovery, Patrick, Virginia, Joe, Andy, Viv, and Elisa were all sat on the roof of the school. The moon was full, and the rest of the school was down at the moon races. Their little group had decided to just look at the stars.

"So... I understand if you don't want to tell us your Anomaly, Viv." Patrick looked at her, curious.

"Yes. But not because I don't want others to think I'm playing favorites."

"I know. But I wanted to know."

"There are three who know. Piper, Declan, and Roan. They agree I shouldn't reveal it."

"Why? Are you afraid we'll cast you away?"

"Yes. And no. I don't want you all to fear me." She looked over at Virginia. "That's why I wore the muzzle."

Patrick . dropped it, knowing she wouldn't answer. Instead, he pointed out at the Milky Way. "How many things do you think, can become sentient enough to try to name this galaxy, all on their own?"

Viv seemed to get excited at the idea of a discussion. "The numbers are infinite! Just like the number of stars or even galaxies or how many lives the Academy may touch. Or how many emotions one human can feel in their life, or how many more years the planet might last. Nobody will ever know for sure."

"Hmmm... Infinite emotion. Is there a limit on how much someone can feel one emotion?"

"No. I'm infinitely worried for everyone here, and I can't measure how much I care for anyone."

"Then we're all like the stars. We're infinite." Pete smiled, looking back up at Orion's belt. As the night breezed by, Viv and Patrick stewed on similar thoughts.


	3. Here's To You, Kiddo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Imagine being at this concert!

Patrick finished the song smiling, leaning back a bit away from the crowd. His voice carried, strong and steady, and hit every single person gathered at the calm lake. This lake was not the same one Andy had been taught to control himself in, but it was close in nature, size, and depth.

A year after Virginia's birth, the four of them were allowed back into their old lives. Of course, they had a few new friends, and they had some new tricks at shows, but it was otherwise just as they had left it. Joe had mastered flight well enough to do some figure flying onstage with Pete, and they'd written a new song that they finished by the three fliers ascending and spreading their wings while the pyrotechnics flared and sparked. Two years later, and Viv had declared that it was time the band revealed that these four men were not the only Anomalies in the world. Patrick picked up the microphone and handed his guitar off.

"Okay, I know I don't speak at shows as often as I used to," Patrick started, scanning the crowd for his family and Viv. "But I figured, today's a special day. It's the day my daughter Virginia was born. The day we were released from the rehabilitation center after our experience in the facilities. The day we announced our tour. And a friend and I have been thinking. We've all been through a huge change, and we haven't told you guys all that much about the ordeal, or about the people who've helped us through it. We've been more secretive than we probably should have about this. So, today is going to have another huge event to its name."

Viviana nodded at him, smiling. Orion, Alex, Hestia, Sparks, Nina, and Faith were standing at their places already, waiting for the signal.

"Today, I'm going to tell you about a place called Anomaly Academy. Our friend Viv started it to take in people who had been stolen and turned into monsters. She's the one who took us in and taught us how to fly, how to control everything else we didn't know how to handle. She kept us safe from hurting ourselves, each other, you, or anyone else. And she put me on a team of fliers. We call ourselves Twisters of Fate." On cue, Orion's picture showed up on the back screen. "This is Orion Aster. He's a type of Anomaly called an Elemental. He's the subclass Zephyr, like the type of wind. He can control and move on the air, and when he does, he turns baby blue." The others appeared as he explained their Anomalies, their smiling faces broadcast for the world to see.

The band hopped of the stage. Andy had been splashed, so he was playing as a mermaid. Rather than fall, he piggy-backed on Pete. The stage was pulled away by a team of six Sleipnir. Pete and Joe joined the crowd. Andy was left on the banks so that he could signal the start to the flight. Patrick joined the other members of his team.

Andy gave the signal, and the group pivoted to run toward the water. When they passed into the wet sand, they leapt into the air. They flew above the water, made calm by way of Andy's Anomaly. Each of the seven team members were wearing a belt buckle enchanted by the spellweavers in the Academy to leave behind a trail of colored smoke. The smoke was purely aesthetic and wouldn't have any effect on the wildlife around it. They spread out and dove to the water, creating the image of a birdcage hovering in the air. Patrick, Hestia, and Faith each flittered underneath the surface while the other four skitted just above it.

Together, the seven erupted back into flight, building a wall of the colorful wave that followed them. It crashed into the cage before it hit the water, taking the smoke with it, Orion and Sparks crossed each other's paths to create an X while Alex and Nina flew symmetrical arcs to create a heart. Patrick, Hestia, and Faith spiraled downward around it, their paths intertwining as the smoke started to fade. Patrick pulled up to even himself out while his group flew circles around him, and he began to spiral inside this circle as his teammates stemmed away from the group.

Again, the seven skimmed to lift the water, this time erecting a massive colun each and then allowing their smoke trails to connect them. Multi-colored fish swam through the columns while the were connected with expert pseudo-lacework. When the water came crashing back down, the entire team had disappeared.

After a few minutes of waiting, the front row started to get anxious. They felt relief and aww as the fliers burst up to bring the water over the audience's heads. As the crowd prepared to be soaked, previously hidden zephyrs lifted the water into a large sphere of fish-safe playground. The Fae lit it up as mermaids and water-based Elementals lowered the water back to the lake.

The front row caught Andy making a mockery of himself by making faces at the fish.

In his defense, Pete later explained, Andy had had to make the strenuous transformation between man and merman multiple times, and no matter who you are that type of transformation is immensely painful. If it made him feel better to make fun of the fish and keep little kids laughing, then he had every right to make kissy faces at the carp.


	4. Chapter 4

Virginia's sixth birthday party was a private affair. Technically, she was the only angel Fangling in existence, but she was also the easiest to please. She never asked for anything special and was always kind to everyone. On her fifth, she had proven enamored with riddles and a highly smart and logical thinker. Naturally, that's how she, the Nekos, and Viv passed time while Patrick was teaching flight.

When her sixth finally rolled along, Patrick knew that Viv had decided on a present that nobody else had. He didn't exactly know  _what,_ but he knew it was a pet of some kind. He didn't care, as long as it wasn't a hellhound. those were too big and too messy. And not to mention loud.

"What do you get the girl that has everything?" Elisa had joked upon hearing his concern. "At least a hellhound can hold a conversation with her."

At the party, Viv was late. Virginia had already opened everyone else's gifts when the portal Viv used to travel opened beside her.

"You didn't have to bring me anything!" Virginia chirped. "I didn't want presents and I already have some anyway!"

"Oh, really?" Viv asked, setting down the box. "Tell me about them."

"Declan and Sissy got me a new feather brush, and Mommy gave me a new bow, and Daddy got me a paint set, and Pete got me a book of riddles, and Joe got me a set of marbles, and Andy brought me a petrified seashell, and Uncle Kevin got me a violin, and-"

"He gave you a violin?"

"Yeah!" She picked it up and played a couple notes, jarring ones.

"Nice! I brought you something I know you don't have."

"Really?" Virginia sounded excited. Her grandparents had each given her something she'd never seen before- a wooden doll that she had been told was a worry doll, a pack of old feather quills with inkwells, a chessboard carved of oakwood and beech, and a Victorian-style dress with open space for her wings. Her aunt had given her a replica mace, small and useless but still really interesting to look at.

"Of course. It's from another dimension, from Greece and Egypt. It's called a sphynx." She opened the doors of the carrier, and a creature the size of a large house cat walked out. It was blue-maned, like a lion with a dye job, and its tail and talons were gold. The rest of its coat was pure white. It had a young lady's face, with feline eyes.

"I am colorless as the air we breathe, and I am the very sword that cannot be sheathed. I can be seen by the blind and thought of by a broken mind. The deaf can hear me, and I can trade nothing for thee. I cannot under desert heat melt, and I can always be felt. What am I?"

"HOPE!" Virginia screeched, running to hug the sphynx. "I love her! Thank you, Viv!"

"You're welcome." To Patrick, she leaned and whispered something else. "She's here of her own free will. She heard about your kid and begged to meet her."

"You did good. I never would have thought of a sphynx."

"Well, what can you get for the person with all the answers? Nothing, except for the thing with all the questions. Besides, sphinxes from the dimension Hope's from are quite social and kind.  It'll do her good to have Hope."

Patrick smiled, closing his eyes. He'd forgotten everything from before Viv's secret had been revealed. Everything he'd expected from Virginia and everything Viv had tried not to become. He'd forgotten, as best he could, about the facilities. He was happy. He had his three kids, his wife, his four best friends and their families. When he wasn't out touring, he was teaching flight at the Academy or flying with the Twisters of Fate. During term breaks, like now, he was talking with his family and just relaxing at home.

"So, other than the presents, what did I miss?"

"Nothing. She wanted to open the presents first so you'd get to have fun at the party."

"Wow. Your kid's amazing."

"What do you expect? You're her favorite Anomaly. She's gonna be a great kid."

Just because the party was small didn't mean they didn't have fun. Kevin, Viv, and Virginia could really strike a tune on their violins. Viv magically created silent fireworks for them to watch, and after a nearly full day of party games, Virginia and Patrick went out for a walk and flight n the woods.

"Hey, Daddy?" Virginia asked, holding his hand as they lift off the ground. "Why is my name Virginia?"

Patrick bit his lip. "Well, that was Viv's grandmother's name. She always wanted to name a daughter after Virginia, but she can't have babies. I didn't know what to name you, She suggested that and, well... I guess that just sounded perfect to me."

"Oh." She let go of his hand. "In that case... Bet you can't catch me!" She did a barrel roll and dove to the ground, opening her wings just before hitting, gliding instead.

"Oh no you don't!" Patrick swooped down and brushed her wing, then rose out of her reach.

In the morning, neither one of them were able to keep their eyes open. Nobody knew where the new rumors of vengeful spirits in the forest came from, except for the angels who had flown there that night. Whenever that became a topic for discussion at Virginia's favorite playground, nobody kew why Virginia and Patrick would burst out laughing and throw their entire bodies into their laughs.


End file.
